Francois Mireur

Francois Mireur (5 February 1770-9 July 1798) was a general of France during the French Revolutionary Wars. He was murdered at Damanhour during the Egypt Campaign of 1798-1800, killed atop his new Arabian stallion that he bought.

Biography
Francois Mireur was born in Escragnolles, France in 1770 and attended a university at Montpelier, where he studied medicine. Although he became a doctor in 1792, he volunteered in the French Revolutionary Army during the French Revolutionary Wars. While at Marseilles he sung a war song by Rouget de Lisle, which became known as "La Marseillaise" afterwards. In 1795 it became the national anthem of France.

During the wars he fought at Valmy in 1792, Italy in 1796-1797, and Egypt in 1798-1800. Mireur twice refused the rank of general while serving under General Napoleon Bonaparte against the Austrian Empire in Italy, but in 1798 he was made a general and served alongside Louis Charles Antoine Desaix in Egypt. Near Damanhour, he was assassinated by four Mamelukes while riding his newly-purchased Arabian Stallion on 9 July 1798. His name is inscribed on the 28th pillar of the Arc de Triomphe.